The HyperZipline ship's doors hissed open. Fresh air wafted through and I recognized the scent of Zoel. I'd discovered that each celestial body I'd been on had a different type of tang to the air. Zoel's was a bit more musky that Satov. Satov had smelled like the dust under a bed mixed with air freshener. I couldn't describe what Earth smelled like. It was just home. My heart had a twinge at the thought of my home in pieces across the Sol System, but I didn't have time to wonder why.

    Mayor Zyre and Spencer were waiting. The hijacked ship would be landing roughly thirty kilometers from Settlement Edam. Mayor Zyre nodded curtly at Captain Thorn. "We've got the site surrounded. Whoever is in that ship isn't going anywhere."

    "And my ship?"

    "Surrounded by our best men, equipped with sekrite," answered Mayor Spencer. His eyebrows creased. "I've not the faintest clue why they wanted sekrite and sekrite only, but I have to assume they have a reason."

    "I owe you two my thanks," said Captain Thorn gravely. "And I know we haven't told you much. We'll catch you up as soon as I have the time, but we're on a ticking clock." That was an understatement. I glanced down at my communication clasp and the timer I'd set. 8 days, 4 hours, 21 minutes, 54 seconds. Eight days until the Patriot shut down and the crew with it. I looked back up, my jaw tight.

    "We trust you," replied Mayor Spencer firmly.

   "Captain," said Byrne sharply, "the ship will be landing in minutes."

    We quickly boarded Mayor Zyre's travel pod. I pulled out my gun and checked the contents. My heart sank when I saw only one bullet left. Mayor Zyre apparently saw my expression because she smirked. "Don't worry about that, First Officer." She pointed at one of the boxes in the pod. "Take a look." "That ought to get on her good side."

    I felt my crew's eyes as I looked inside. I exhaled. "Zodiacs. How many?"

    "Enough."

   Captain Thorn stood and joined me at the crate. The pod flew seamlessly through the air as he picked a zodiac resembling a rifle. It bore a long scope on the end with a small section that glowed yellow. "That's a gemini," supplied Byrne as she looked at her tablet. "Bird will like that one."

   I handed it over right away. Bird busied himself with the mechanics after taking a strip of glowing yellow capsules. A few minutes later and we had them all passed out. I myself had a capricorn – a large dagger that when a button was pressed, it reconfigured into a pistol that was able to shoot energy shots. It was a level four, one of the more dangerous ones. Captain Thorn had taken the other high-leveled weapon. Once everyone was equipped with a weapon, the pod landed.

   "Peterson, stay on board with Decker," ordered Captain Thorn. Peterson nodded. Decker looked less than pleased. "I can help, Captain."

   "You're healing and you're staying." Captain Thorn looked at him sharply. Decker reluctantly sat back down. The doors began to open. I went out first with my weapon clasped in my hands. A miniature army had a foreign ship surrounded. It was just finishing the landing procedure, steam hissing off of the sides. The feet were just now locking down.

   "Do your best to remain hidden," Captain Thorn recommended to all of us. "If there is no one in that ship, we don't want to be exposed for a lack of a reason."

   Assent was murmured through. We spread out. I saw Byrne slinking through the soldiers, her head ducked low. Bird and Edwards stuck inside of the treeline. I hurried under the hull of the ship, Captain Thorn on my heels. A group of five soldiers broke down the cargo bay door and disappeared inside.

   The area held its breath. My finger tensed over the trigger. Captain Thorn glanced my way. I pressed my lips together. After a few minutes, the soldiers came back out empty-handed. My heart sank and I cursed. "No sign of any passengers," reported the soldiers to the head.

   I wasn't convinced. "He could have activated the technology and hid in the walls."

   "First Officer, the walls are made of sekrite paneling," Byrne reluctantly replied. "If his technology is sekrite based, he can't have."

   "He's truly not there," muttered Captain Thorn under his breath. He got out from under the ship. I did the same with a tight jaw. "No sign of anyone?" He inquired of the first soldier that had exited.

   "Just a patch of blood, sir." His thoughts confirmed.

   My eyes narrowed. "So someone was definitely on board." They had to go somewhere.

   "The DNA scanners haven't picked anything up," negated the soldier. "And if the scanners didn't find anything, there was nothing to be found."

   "DNA scanners?" Officer Byrne appeared at our sides, her eyes sharp.

   The soldier nodded. "They pick up traces of skin cells and saliva cells in the atmosphere. If anyone had been on that ship in the past five hours, there would be a trace. There's nothing."

   "Nothing but the blood?"

   Byrne suddenly pulled out her tablet and looked down at it. I ran my hand over my head, feeling like I weighed extra. "Another mystery with no possible answer," I muttered at the Captain. "I'm sick of these."

   "I'm already sick of them and I've only been awake for a day and a half," he replied curtly. He turned to the soldier. "How could that blood have gotten on board?"

   He shrugged. "An emergency blood bag might have punctured during the flight. It wasn't a smooth landing, either. Likely a hacking job from somewhere else."

   "Any other supplies scattered on the floor?"

   The soldier's faltering was all we needed. I exhaled and grimaced. Officer Byrne was staring at her tablet. Gawking, more like. I looked at her nonchalantly. "What is the matter, Byrne?"

    She licked her lips. "Well, I've got the DNA profile back from the blood in the Courtroom..."

   "And?" Captain Thorn interjected sharply.

   "I think we can fairly say that this group is smart enough to avoid DNA detection," she sighed. "Because that profile is from a man that would be two hundred years old." She turned it around and showed an old image of a man with light eyes and dark hair. "It matched this profile. And it's certain to say that is old man is not the person who was in the Courtroom."

   The soldiers around us didn't look too impressed. However the three of us stood there in a stunned silence. My mind spun. We had spilled blood of a man directly from his body. And somehow the blood wasn't his. My jaw tightened. I'd seen the wound. I saw his charred flesh from Bird's shot. I knew the blood was his. So how could it possibly not belong to him?

   "How is that possible?" Captain Thorn asked, his face stormy.

   A soldier cleared his throat. "It's not all implausible. There are ways of masking DNA on the black market. It's impossible to hide DNA, but not to disguise it." "Where are these people from? Didn't they hear about the terrorist scandal a few years ago? They only got away because they masked their DNA... Everyone knows about it. Why don't they?"

   Byrne looked at him, eyes narrowed. "It's possible to cover DNA with a different one?"

   "It's not just possible – with the black market, it's easy, I've heard," he replied.

   "Is there any way to track down the real DNA using the black market?" Captain Thorn inquired sharply.

   The soldier shook his head. "Not without getting inside. The Planetary Court has been after them since they were established. No one has ever found how to get into it."

   "And we don't have time for such a stunt," I told the Captain privately. "We need to focus on charging the electron batteries. We can go after the market after this is done and our crew is safe."

   I could feel his frustration. "I hate leaving this unfinished but you're right." Out loud, he said, "I see. Test that blood anyway for DNA identification and secure the area. We'll come back to this later."